Walla Walla Week 2

Week two started at the same pace as week 1 ended, as there were so many people I caught up with rather than break it down chronologically I am going to cover the different types of organisation that I met and the impact that it had.

We began our week by receiving a proclamation from the County Commissioners celebrating Resilience Month in Walla Walla and it was moving to hear one of them describe the impact that ACE's and resilience had on him personally. This was another example of working to get buy in at as many levels within the community as possible, all three commissioners were interested and engaged with what was going on and keen to see the results be as impactful as possible. We met again with them on Tuesday where they had a chance to ask questions about what was happening and I discussed some of my personal lived experience. I also met with Mayor Barbara Clark and City Manager Nabiel Shawa for a long discussion on the impact that the trauma informed movement has had on the city, their commitment to it and their pride that I and many others have been inspired by what we have seen happen here. Like any city they also deal with challenges and I hope that we have begun a conversation and relationship that will endure when I return home.

The importance of having key parts of government and governance 'on board' is significant, they are of course often able to leverage resources but more importantly they are able to influence a significant number of people and add credibility to anything many of the things you would like to do.

Mary and Ruthell of the Community Council

I met with several organisations we would probably think of in the UK as 'third sector' acting as charity or public interest organisations, with goals that are about bettering the lives of others. Mary Campbell who heads the Walla Walla Community Council and her colleague Ruthell Martinez are working in a direct way to engage residents in finding solutions to issues within Walla Walla, the approach is to identify an issue and then invite people to join study committees looking further into it and ultimately publishing recommendations. I was fortunate to be able to attend one of these study committees, well attended and looking at affordable housing. This approach sits alongside being trauma informed really well, I felt that Mary and Ruthell (who I met earlier in the week) and their other colleagues ensured that the meeting respected the contributions of experts but also made everyone feel valued and able to contribute.

The Health Center, created closely to Lincoln High School, is a place where people are supported in a range of ways, it is an example of working creatively and cleverly about where you place a resource, what organisations work alongside and around it, and the value of a broad range of professionals, skills, and talents. Childcare, Homelessness, physical and mental health care, and other ancillary supports were in place and available. The value of this is of in some ways obvious, but the location near Lincoln High also meant that they were able to support students directly and add expertise to the schools offer around wellbeing.  I met with the Youth Justice team and despite Norrie being an Arsenal fan he and his team were working alongside schools on trying to encourage attendance without resorting to punitive / criminal routes - they had an understanding of and tried to work in a trauma informed way.

Great Growth Mindset Display in Walla Walla

I had the chance to add to my time in the schools with visits to several Walla Walla schools who had wellness centres in a similar vein to Hillsboro, they also use the zones of regulation and it was pleasing to hear that from the school board down there is a commitment to a trauma informed way of working.

I again had the chance to see the work of C2C (Commitment 2 Community) who had set up another family fun night, this is a way of getting parents and children into the school out of hours using a variety of activities. In areas where they have traditionally struggled to engage parents this is a great way of making the school more approachable and welcoming, to get staff and parents into the same space, and to make connections.

Family Fun Night

Across the week what I saw was the vital role that trust and connections play in any system that hopes to work and is something that has to be worked at incredibly hard. People cannot be expected to simply show up, they need to be given a reason to and when they do their time needs to be honoured and valued, there needs to be a purpose and an opportunity to be heard.

My final post will be a summary of the Kitsap Resilience Conference, training that I attended on my final day, and a great morning at Gonzaga University. I will also summarise my six weeks.